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Krag-Petersson
|weight=Unknown |justweight= |width= |height= |magazine=10-round internal magazine |cycle= |effective= |range= |usedby=Norway |velocity= }} The M1876 Krag-Petersson is an early Norwegian repeating service rifle. It holds the distinction of being one of the first repeating rifles to be adopted by a major military force; the first being the Swiss Vetterli. History Designed by Ole Krag who had been experimenting with repeating rifle designs around the time and his friend Axel Petersson in 1872, the first prototype was submitted to trials in 1872, with the Norwegian/Swedish Artillery Committee who conducted the trials requesting Krag to refine his design further. The rifle was resubmitted in 1873 with generally positive feedback; most praise went to the rifle's accuracy, a rather high rate of fire of 19 rounds per minute when used as a single-shot rifle (the Remington M1867, its contemporary, had a rate of fire of 13 aimed shots per minute), the consistent functioning of the weapon's ejector (the M1867's ejector would occasionally fail to work after prolonged shooting) and its overall build quality. Despite positive results, the Krag-Petersson was not recommended to be adopted by the Norwegian or Swedish Military by the committee; this was due to them regarding the round the weapon was designed and built around, the 12.17×44mm RF round, being deemed already obsolete by the time, and the fact that they were already testing the Jarmann M1884 design. After the trials, 30 slightly shortened Krag-Peterssons were adopted by the HMKG (Hans Majestet Kongens Garde, His Majesty's the King Guard); the Krag-Peterssons were well liked by the guards who used them. In spite not being adopted by the Norwegian or Swedish Militaries, the Krag-Petersson was adopted by the Royal Norwegian Navy as their standard arm; a member of the Navy pointed out that their current standard arm was the Kammerlader rifle rechambered for the 4 linjer rimfire round, and that it was already very clear that the Jarmann would be adopted by the Army first, which would leave the Navy with a lack of a modern standard arm for at least a decade or so. The rifle was also said to have been tested by other unnamed nations, but none ended up adopting it. By 1900, the Krag-Petersson was deemed completely obsolete, and as such, was phased out of service; the remaining rifles were sold to civilians and more often than not, were extensively rebuilt. As a result, finding an original, unmodified Krag-Petersson is extremely difficult; due to this, the rifle was described as "the rifle everybody has heard about, but hardly anybody has ever seen". Due to its rarity, the Krag-Petersson can fetch very high prices at a firearms auction, especially if it is an original, unaltered rifle. Design Details By modern standards, the Krag-Petersson is an extremely simple rifle. Its action consists of just eight components: the receiver, hammer, breechblock, firing pin, two pins, a lockplate to secure those two pins and the tubular magazine. Pulling the hammer down actuates the action, which pulls a round from the tubular magazine onto the top of the breechblock; the round would have to be manually pushed into the chamber by the shooter, whereupon the breechblock, by means of a strong spring, would close. At times, the breechblock would close on the shooter's thumb or finger, resulting in pinched skin on the finger or thumb used to load the weapon. Ammunition The rifle uses the 12.17×44mm RF round, based on the 12.17×42mm RF round used by its contemporary, the Remington M1867. References Category:Rifles Category:Repeating rifles